Lowe's may have seeds year round from what I've been told. They won't be clearance racking any of those this year. We've got orders to keep the shelves stocked and neatly organized. I think it has something to do with the economy. I've already started collecting my own seeds. I'm not saving them yet, but spreading them where I want more of something next year. I'll start collecting once the breadseed poppies are ripe.

Hi again all, Horton, I couldn't agree with you more, obviously the low wattage is not enough to keep up with my Minnesota winters, even though they say it does. I have not heard back from Dan yet, but it is a holiday. I will let you know what he says if he does get back to me. Will, don't be nervous, you should dive right in, the water is fine, all be it a bit cold right now. LOLOL! Honestly, I may have had a setback with my koi dilemma but I love ponding! It is so peaceful to have the sound of water and the sites of the wonderful wildlife that make my backyard their home every spring/summer. I get dozens of frogs and birds, dragonflies, butterflies and even the occasional snake because of the pond and stream. I get to sit on my deck and watch birds of all types bathe and drink from the stream, and fish play in the falls, dragonflies perch and hunt from bamboo stakes I have placed in the waterlily pots, and every night a serenade of frog song and crickets fill the air. I can grow beautiful waterlilies, flag iris, and this year, with luck, lotus, and dozens of other beautiful waterplants, and hear the sound of the stream and falls as I work or just enjoy the gardens. Some of the boulders are pretty large although they are considered two man boulders, they were a challenge moving. Actually we, my husband and I did all the work ourselves. I have a background in design, and am either too stuborn or cheap to pay someone to do what I know how to do myself. Besides the exercise is good for us! LOLOL! Every spring my husband asks me, "so what backbreaking project do you have for me this year?" and by the time we have finished it we swear, no more, but.... BTW, I sent you a reply to your email. Thank you! Carol, Sorry to hear you have gone through the same thing :( I could, if I had one, and if there was a hole in the ice to get the tube through. As I said we just had another major snowstorm and it is all solid ice again. I know they need air, but it has had the chance to get some air exchange the few times the ice has melted around the edges. We are supposed to finally get a decent warm up this week, with temps hitting near 50 by Friday, that should be enough for a lot of it to melt. You guys are all great, I can't thank you enough for your help and concern. I am glad I have you all to talk to. Thank you!!!! Jodi

1) I am working overseas and will not finish this contract until 1st week of April. If I had all my supplies and hive(s) (- bees) set up before I got home...would it be too late to start a hive(s) from a NUC or package once I got home 2nd - 3rd week of April? Answer. It's important to get your packages ordered early. They always sell out. I order packages from Betterbee in Greenwich NY It's about 1 hr 1/4 away from me. They'll be taking package orders starting on Jan 4th. They usually have 3 or 4 delivery dates (saturdays) starting around april 15th Picking a date is hard because it all depends on the weather both up here and in Georgia where they get their packages. Delays from one week to 3 weeks aren't uncommon. You want to get your bees off to a good strong start but anything can happen. My first year I had a late delivery date. I was thinking that all the established hives would be building up while I was still be waiting to get bees. Well the weather here was cold and steady rain so the delay didn't hurt. Nucs usually come later because they have to be established already. I'd advise starting with package bees because you will be learning right from the get go. You'll have to install them in the hive, check for queen release, check to be sure she's laying a good brood pattern. In other words you'll be involved every step of the way and you'll learn more, and things will be gradual. 2) Everything I have read...the Italian bee seems to be the most docile bee. Would that be the bee for the beginner? answer. Italians are what I started with and still have the most of. I also have some Russians. It's all a matter of opinion. I don't find my Russians to be any more aggressive than my Italians. Russians have many good traits. One thing I definitely noticed with mine is they overwinter in a smaller cluster and consume much less honey. When buying a package, you may not have a choice as far as the type of queen you get. 3) How much time do you average a week working your hives? I have read numerous posts that "you experts" suggest starting with 2 - 3 hives (to gauge potential problems). How much time per week to manage my bees effectively with 3-hives? answer: You have to remember that this is agriculture so anything can happen and will, and it's all variable You'll plan your sight and get everything ready to go ahead of time which will take some work. On the big day, plan to spend a couple of hours being your first time. Once you have the hang of it you can install a package of bees in a matter of minutes. The first time you'll be double checking instructions and going over all of the details. You will be very excited and nervous at the same time. After your successful at that you do a check back in about 3 or 4 days, only to see that the queen has been released. At one week you'll check for signs that she's laying. You'll probably be feedin 1:1 sugar syrup to help them build up. In general there's lots of work in the beginning, less in the middle, lots toward the end. It's not an everyday thing and sometimes more than a week between any actual work. You want them to do their work without too much disturbance 4) I would like to sell my honey (- what we eat of course) and my wife is really into crafts so I am sure she will be interested in making candles etc. If the market was available in my area (which I am sure it is)...how much money could I expect to gross from my hives on an average season? answer: That's the toughest question of all. The saying goes the first year is a building up season, the second is a harvesting season, but it's all relative. (remember the agriculture thing)I've had 1st yr hives that gave a surplus of over 100 lbs and others that only made enough to get them through the winter. This year with some established and some new hives I got 375 pounds from the 5 that produced surplus. It ranged from over 100 to 35 lbs. We kept about 150 lbs and gave some away and are selling some. I'll probably gross about a grand but I'm not making a profit because I'm putting it back into bees and equipment. I hope to make another few hundred selling lip balm, salves, candles and soap. My first year I made enough to cover about half my costs. You'll get some wax from cappings but it won't amount to very much. You'll need to buy more for any real amount of crafting 5) I know I have read in several posts that an average hive produces about 110-lbs of honey (some 200-lbs). How does that compute into 1/2 pint, 1-pint, 1-qt jars of honey? I would think honey would weight a lot more per gallon than say water or milk? answer: Honey has to be sold by weight, so you'll be dealing in half pound, one pound jars etc. Do not get the idea that I am thinking strickly about the money...because I am not! When I get home in April, I want to semi retire (it pays well over here) and I would like to know what to expect. We have a huge garden, goats, chickens and soon to have meat rabbits. I have been slowly building a nice herd of goats the past 4-yrs and think I might break even or be in the "black" on them for the first time this year. We love the country life and if I could start these bees...who knows...diversity is awesome. I am just excited thinking about my little black / gold pollinators in my own garden. No more flowers falling off my pumpkins because "ZERO" bees to pollinate them. Sorry for rambling...I am just excited! I will continue to hang on "your guy's & gals" every word...so keep the posts coming. I am only up to about the 10th set of posts so far...so a lot of "back dated" ones to read. Hopefully by April I will have it all figured out (the process anyway). Sorry...one last question. How many times a week do you get stung...and...do you ever get used to it? answer: That's pretty variable too. A lot depends on the demeanor of your bees (demeaner dey are, da more you get stung)Actually if you work them at the right times and move slowly you may not get stung very often. This past year we worked our 10 hives mostly without gloves and sometimes in tee shirts, moving slowly and being as gentle as possible. I probably got a half dozen stings over the course of the season. If the bees seemed like they were getting angry we just backed off and waited, and wore gloves and long sleeves when it seemed necessary. A friend with a feisty hive got a half dozen at once, so you never know. Thanks, You're very welcome

Checking in from the St. Louis area here. Boy, what a storm it was!! We've still got a quarter million homes without power in this area (they've restored power to about 3/4 million already), and it's been getting soooo cold - got down to 12 degrees last night. My ex had power restored on Saturday (after it going out on Thursday evening), and it got down to 40 degrees in his house before the power came on - I can only imagine what other people are going through!!! I'm extremely lucky that my power didn't go out, and I had minimal damage from all the trees/limbs falling (a big limb on my fence, but that's all). The pictures tweetypye showed are typical of walking down the streets around me. I've been kinda homebound as there is a power line down across my street since Thursday night, and it's a deadend - no other way out. The power company is letting it go 'til one of the last ones to get fixed because only one house is without power because of it. But it has trapped about 6 of us on the end of the street :( Some are driving over it even though the sheriff put the yellow "Do Not Cross" tape across the street to block it off. As Sharon said about the snow - the ice is absolutely gorgeous.......imagine all the trees around being crystal - it's breathtaking!!! Most of it should melt tomorrow with the heat wave (up to 45) coming in. I hope all our dl buds who've been affected by this storm have stayed safe & warm!! Tammy